The special effects of the Kasaka's Venom Fang activated instantly. A paralyzing toxin spread through Petelgeuse's body like a spiderweb, while the fatal bleeding effect began to erode his life force.
"Cough... cough, cough..." Bloody foam frothed from Petelgeuse's mouth. He stared at Natsuki Subaru with eyes full of disbelief. "How... how is this possible... Someone as... diligent, as diligent... a follower as I... how could I be defeated like this?"
"This is reality," Natsuki Subaru said coldly, his Level 37 physical abilities allowing him to easily suppress his opponent's struggles. "Your strength is nothing worth mentioning among the Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult."
Truthfully, Petelgeuse, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, could only be considered a second-rate figure among the Witch Cult's Archbishops. The Authority he had acquired was not only inherently weak, but his compatibility with it was also quite poor. It couldn't even compare to the nearly invincible time-stopping ability of the Sin Archbishop of Greed, Regulus.
Even with the same Unseen Hand Authority, the Witch of Envy could manipulate thousands of hands at once, forming a terrifying sight that could blot out the sun. Petelgeuse, even at his limit, could only summon a mere few dozen. The difference between them was like that between the clouds and mud. All of this pointed to one fact: Petelgeuse's compatibility with the Witch Factor was abysmal.
"It's not over... It won't end... It can't end!" Petelgeuse suddenly began to shriek hysterically. The wound on his chest tore open from his violent struggling. "I, who am so diligent, diligent, DILIGENT... how can I... fall into a slothful end!"
"Death is the best fate for you!" Natsuki Subaru said, his voice icy as he looked at Petelgeuse.
"Death...? Ah-ha! Ahahahaha!" Petelgeuse suddenly burst into crazed laughter, more blood spilling from his mouth. "What beautiful diligence! What an enviable obsession! You... are you also an incarnation of love?!"
"Don't lump me in with a madman like you." Natsuki Subaru tightened his grip on his weapon, looking at Petelgeuse dispassionately. "Your 'love' is nothing more than the madness of self-satisfaction. My love is for protecting the people important to me."
"AHHH! How arrogant! HOW ARROGANT!" Petelgeuse clawed at his own face, his nails leaving bloody tracks on his skin. "I've been denied! DENIED! My love! My faith! My—my sloth!"
Hearing this, Natsuki Subaru's brow furrowed, shocked by Petelgeuse's almost paranoid will to live. With a sudden surge of strength in his wrist, he viciously twisted the dagger inside the enemy's chest, then slashed horizontally!
With a sickening tearing sound, the sharp dagger sliced Petelgeuse in two at the waist. Entrails and blood rained down, splattering onto the surrounding broken branches.
Although Petelgeuse possessed the two major advantages of the Unseen Hand's stealth and the ability to resurrect through his "Fingers," he was completely countered in this battle. The former was ineffective against Natsuki Subaru himself, and the latter had been thoroughly destroyed by Wilhelm and the others. From the very beginning, Petelgeuse's defeat was sealed. This battle was less of an evenly matched duel and more of a precision strike against the enemy's weaknesses.
"It hurts, hurts, huuurts... You... are very diligent!" Petelgeuse, his upper body now twisted, looked up at Natsuki Subaru. "To think you saw through my techniques... How did you do it... No, it was I who was too slothful..."
"Because I've already seen through all of your tricks," Natsuki Subaru said coldly, the tip of his dagger pointed at the remains on the ground. "Your madness and obsession are nothing but a pathetic farce in my eyes."
"Ahh, ahh! If that is so, what good have I done... I! I was too slothful! The chance to offer my love to the Witch! I destroyed it with my own hands." Petelgeuse clawed at his head with his mangled hands, roaring madly. "Unforgivable, unforgivable! I must show my love, love, love, love, LOVE, LOVE!"
"Stop dreaming, Petelgeuse. Don't expect to use your Fingers to resurrect. We've already eliminated every last one of them," Natsuki Subaru said, gripping his weapon and calmly staring at the man before him. This time, he had to end it for good, to not give him any chance to harm anyone ever again.
"Ahhhhh—" Petelgeuse let out a piercing scream, then burst into crazed laughter again. "I've lost all my Fingers, and at this rate, destruction is inevitable... But, but, BUT... I... still have! I still have... a remaining... vessel!"
His frantic, rolling eyes suddenly locked onto Natsuki Subaru, his mouth twisting into a horrifying smile. At this moment of life and death, the madman had set his sights on the enemy before him!
"My brain... TREMBLES!"
With that, Petelgeuse's body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. The light faded from his eyes, and his arms went limp.
But death was not the end.
In the next instant, a small green point of light shot out from Petelgeuse's body, flying toward Natsuki Subaru with the speed of a lightning bolt.
Not good!
Seeing this, Natsuki Subaru's pupils contracted, but he had no time to react.
Just as the green point of light was about to enter his brow—
The sound of a system notification suddenly rang out in his mind:
[NOTICE: Abnormal mental intrusion detected. The Blessing of the Great Shaman Kandiaru has been automatically activated.]
A blue energy barrier materialized on the surface of Natsuki Subaru's body. The green light slammed into it, making a sizzling, burning sound.
"Gah—!" With a piercing scream, the small green point of light was violently repelled.
So that's it, the Blessing of the Great Shaman Kandiaru.
Feeling the mysterious power flowing through him, Natsuki Subaru remembered that the Great Shaman's blessing not only enhanced his physical recovery but also granted him immunity to all diseases, poisons, and abnormal status effects. Especially during sleep, its regenerative healing ability would increase exponentially.
"How... how can this be... how, how, HOW!" Petelgeuse's spirit, forced back into his own mangled upper body, spoke with a voice full of incredulous madness. "How... how could the possession fail! The body won't disappear... It can't... disappear..."
"Your so-called 'possession' is just forcibly establishing a contract with someone who has the aptitude of a spirit arts user to seize control of their body." Natsuki Subaru looked down coldly at the dying enemy and spoke slowly, "I'm right, aren't I, Sin Archbishop... no, I should call you the spirit, Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti!"
It was worth noting that Petelgeuse was not human, but a gnome spirit. He prolonged his life by parasitizing humans, an ability that was essentially a forced, one-sided contract. However, the target of the contract had to meet two conditions: first, they must have a natural talent for spirit arts, and second, they must not have already formed a contract with another spirit. This was why, in the original story, Natsuki Subaru became his target, due to Subaru's extremely high affinity with spirits.
However, this possession ability had many limitations. First, Petelgeuse had to set a connection point on the target in advance; otherwise, he couldn't transfer his consciousness when the current host died. Second, if the host's will was strong enough, Petelgeuse would have difficulty gaining full control of the body, which was why he usually chose Witch Cultists who were willing to sacrifice themselves as his vessels.
Such a troublesome ability.
Natsuki Subaru had already made thorough preparations, constantly on guard against Petelgeuse's possession attempts. Even if the worst-case scenario had occurred and he had been successfully possessed, he still had a backup plan. Just like in the original story, all he would have to do is say the words "Return by Death," and he could summon the Jealous Witch to completely expel the spirit of Petelgeuse from his body.
"Shut up! Don't you dare call me a spirit!" Petelgeuse's mangled torso convulsed violently, blood pouring from his severed waist as he roared hysterically, "Don't you compare me to such a lowly existence! I am a being beyond spirits! I am a chosen one who has shed his pathetic self-awareness and received a supreme mission due to the Witch's love! You... what do you know—?!"
This hysterical denial only confirmed Natsuki Subaru's speculation. The more vehement the rebuttal, the more it exposed the truth. Petelgeuse's performance was practically digging his own grave.
"It was LOVE that changed me! LOVE gave me will! LOVE gave me the meaning of my existence!" Petelgeuse's voice grew more and more crazed. "This is all the Witch's grace! The Witch's love! Therefore! Therefore, therefore, THEREFORE! This body, this soul, all of it should be dedicated to the Witch!"
"I've had enough of your grandstanding, Petelgeuse. Disappear!" Natsuki Subaru said, coldly looking down at the dying enemy on the ground. He had to admit, Petelgeuse's life force was terrifyingly strong. As a spirit, he wouldn't perish easily, but with the death of his host body, his soul surely couldn't last much longer.
"Arrogant fool! Your retribution is to have your limbs torn asunder and your soul offered to the great Witch! DIE!"
Petelgeuse's upper body suddenly lunged. Dozens of black Unseen Hands grew madly from his back, propping him up as he scuttled like a terrifying human spider.
Swish!
The twisted hands swelled and intertwined rapidly in the air, finally coalescing into a tidal wave of black that surged toward Natsuki Subaru with destructive force. Each hand was twisted with the desire to crush his limbs, break his neck, and defile his soul.
Although his host body was dead and Petelgeuse himself was on the verge of fading, he recklessly pushed his Authority for one last time. The furiously dancing hands, like a reaper's scythes, carved chaotic trajectories through the air, having already lost the ability to accurately lock onto a target. The spot where Subaru had been standing was pierced by five hands at once, blasting a crater two meters in diameter.
Before the flying dirt could even land, Natsuki Subaru had already leaped into the air by kicking off a tree trunk.
"DIE! DIE!" Petelgeuse shrieked, his upper body suddenly rotating 180 degrees. The hands behind him spread out like a blooming black flower. The arms intertwined, instantly condensing into a giant spike over a meter in diameter, which shot toward the airborne Natsuki Subaru with astonishing speed.
"A desperate struggle!" Natsuki Subaru shouted coldly, his figure lunging forward like a flash of lightning. The Kasaka's Venom Fang carved a fatal arc through the air, instantly severing several incoming hands. The severed Unseen Hands peeled away and dissipated like withered vines, symbolizing that the very foundation of Petelgeuse's existence was crumbling.
Petelgeuse struggled in a pool of his own blood, his hate-filled eyes still fixed on Natsuki Subaru. His shattered body twitched, but the Unseen Hands he once controlled so deftly could no longer be wielded. His body could only twitch and struggle grotesquely like a dying insect. Yet, even in this state, the burning madness in his blood-filled eyes had not diminished in the slightest.
"—It's over."
As Natsuki Subaru spoke, the Kasaka's Venom Fang, glowing with a cold blue light, once again mercilessly plunged into Petelgeuse's chest. The special effect imbued in the blade erupted, completely tearing the mad Sin Archbishop apart from the inside. In the final flash of destructive light, Petelgeuse's twisted face finally froze—unwillingness, madness, despair, all his emotions were forever fixed in that moment.
Petelgeuse's mangled body convulsed violently. For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his bloodshot eyes. He finally realized that this time, he had truly reached the end of the road. However, his eyes still revealed a mad obsession with the Witch. "How... how can this be... I am... the most diligent... follower of the great Witch... my love for the great Witch... love..."
"Sleep forever, Petelgeuse!"
With Natsuki Subaru's declaration, the Kasaka's Venom Fang was violently pulled out. This parasitic gnome spirit, Petelgeuse, who had inhabited countless bodies and raved about diligence, was utterly annihilated in a brilliant flash of blue light.
[NOTICE: LEVEL UP!]
[NOTICE: LEVEL UP!]
[NOTICE: LEVEL UP!]
[NOTICE: EMERGENCY QUEST COMPLETE.]
[NOTICE: Level has reached 40. Accept Job Change Quest? yes/No.]
A series of crisp system notifications sounded in Natsuki Subaru's mind, causing him to let out a long sigh of relief. The system had confirmed that the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Sloth, Petelgeuse, had been completely and utterly eliminated by him.
"Subaru!" Emilia was the first to rush over, her silver hair flying in the wind, her amethyst eyes full of joy and admiration. "That was amazing! you defeated a Sin Archbishop!"
Rem followed close behind, her short blue hair bobbing slightly, her eyes shining with adoration. "Subaru is the strongest, just as I knew. Rem always believed you could do it."
_____
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